NorCal Garden Musings and Know-How

Month: August 2007

I just learned something new this week. It turns out petunias aren’t true annuals — they’re really tender perennials that die when they freeze. So, I can overwinter them in the basement and plant them out again next spring. And they grow well from cuttings. So, I plan to make some cuttings from my pink […]

This little masked bandit had been eating my cats’ food in the garage lately. I had a hunch it was a raccoon since the water dish would be really dirty, and I know raccoons like to wash their hands in water when they eat. My neighbor has this live trap, and it worked like a […]

I read about this vine today, and it turns out to be one that I saw at the Denver Botanic Garden while traveling for work last week. I liked it. Didn’t know it was only an annual, but it might be worth a try on my backyard arbor. That is, if it can compete with […]

I’ve been laboring under the delusion that I was growing a Rocky Mountain Maple from seed I collected up American Fork Canyon. Well, I now think this is probably just a lousy Box Elder tree. It’s awfully similar to the small Box Elder I was growing in a pot until someone at GardenWeb identified it […]

Last Saturday, I trimmed my Pink Simplicity rose hedge to a uniform four feet or maybe slightly less. They had been quite unruly, because I didn’t prune them at all this spring while I was trying to figure out what was causing them to abort their first wave of flowerbuds. They look nice and neat, […]

I’ve had some success with cutting-grown Missouri Evening Primroses (Oenothera missouriensis, also called Ozark Sundrops). I made some cuttings last summer and planted the new clones out this spring. These do not seem to be invasive like their Mexican cousins, so I’m liking them a lot. Here’s an example of the annual Geraniums I planted […]

I really enjoy my Hibiscus shrubs. These go by several names, including Hibiscus syriacus, Rose of Sharon, or Hibiscus Rose. I have three single-flowered ones and five double-flowered. They all start flowering some time in June, I think, and they keep going quite well through September. The photo at left is from last year in […]

Last month, I planted some things in containers on my backyard deck. I was a little late getting to these, since half of summer was already gone, but I was just in time for the big extended family water party in our backyard. These photos were taken on July 24th, about a week after planting […]

Here are some of the plants that have been looking good in my yard this time of year: So, starting from the top left, we have: A big clump of annual Rudbeckia, one of my favorite annuals Dianthus ‘Brilliancy’ which I grew from seed this year A wave petunia that I waited too long to […]

I posted the following on GardenWeb’s Rocky Mountain Forum: I’ve NEVER had a problem with mites like I do now. Is it caused by this unusually hot, dry summer we’ve had? Maybe my trees have had more water stress in this weather, making them more susceptible? Here’s what’s happening: Starting in June, I got spider […]